Now that the danger had ended Llandra began to look around and truly see all that Kyle had done.  All four of the Oaken were dead and it had been Kyle that had done it. Never had she seen a Wizard do what he had done.

"Llandra, are you hurt at all?"  Kyle asked with concern.  Still entangled under the branches of the two dead Oaken.

She stumbled over to him and began to sing.  It was a song so beautiful that Kyle's heart hurt to hear it.  The Oaken began to grow away from Kyle.  It was crazy to him but that was how he saw it.

Her singing came to a slow end and she tiredly began to help him out of the mess of branches and limbs.  It surprised him that he felt only a few aches and pains.

"You are well?"  Llandra asked with exhaustion in her voice.

"I'll be okay.  Are we safe?"

"That will depend on how long that one takes to get back to whomever sent it."  She watched in the general direction of where it had run off to.

"Let's get inside and decide what our next move should be."  Kyle said pulling her along. 

Now that he had touched the core of himself he found it impossible to not study it.  As the two stumbled toward the cabin, Kyle was tentivally probing the magic within himself.

"You're like a child, Wizard Kyle.  A child with a new toy, who can not help but to play with it."  Llandra said after a long pause.  "I can sense and see you glow more intently as you study your true self."

"I've been taught all my life that magic was only a thing in movies and stories.  Now, I'm able to touch things and affect them both negatively, and positively.   Llandra, this is crazy!"

She smiled at his innocence and joy.  She wanted to be happy as well, but she knew that the next time someone came for them it might just be an elder of her people.  With magic that could very well rival Kyle's.

The cabin was coming near and Llandra knew right away that it had been designed by Wizards from her world.

The roof peeked on each end of the long house.  A fire place was built into both peeks and the middle looked like a saddle.  She just knew that the room there would be an office with a round window facing the rising and setting sun.

The main floor would have a big kitchen and living space with two to four bedrooms around the rest.  A big front and back porch with plenty of sitting for guests.  This was the Wizard way.

"Oh, Kyle!"  She nearly squealed in her joy.  "You home is a true home of your people!  You really had no idea that your from my world?"

Kyle just laughed but he was concerned inside.  He know had enough to believe that his parents were not from this earth.  Then that also could only mean that old uncle Martin was also a Wizard.

If all this was truth, then what he needed to know was why he was being kept in the dark about his true heritage and power.  Why were they all hiding here, on a magicless place.

Now that he could touch and partly control the core within himself, he just could not fathem never being able to publicly use it again.  People of this world would have you in a secret hanger in a day if they had any idea the level of power he could wield.

Inside the cabin was warm but dark.  Turning the power on was simple but Kyle went slow for he found that he could sense his way through the familiar cabin even better than he ever had before.

Llandra seemed unaffected by the dark as well.  The two walked into the kitchen area with Kyle leading the way.  Turning on a small light over the counter he busied himself with the pod machine for making coffee and tea.

"Why was my heritage kept from me, Llandra?"  Kyle asked pouring water into the machine.  "Why hide who I really am?"

Not sure how to answer she pulled a pan off the hanging rack and filled it with water.  Giving Kyle a lost look, he reached over and turned the flame on for her.  She smiled at the ease of it.

Going to the fridge he took out creamer and a pack of frozen kilbosa.  The meat he set next to the pan of slowly boiling water and the creamer he smelled, then put by the coffee maker.

"I kind of keep waiting for someone to jump out and yell, fooled you!  Your not really a magic wizard!"

Taking the plastic container filled with rice, she twisted it open to be sure it was what she thought it was, then said patiently,  "Your who you are, Kyle.  Nothing more and nothing less.  The reason for hiding the truth will be shown to you one day.  Only on that day will you know."

He smiled, but it still frustrated him like crazy.  Her wisdom and life view made her that much more important to Kyle.  For so long he had felt more intelligent than the kids his age.  Now he had a friend who was his equal or even smarter.

He watched her pour the rice into the water, so he took the kilbosa and cut it into inch long pieces.  He would add it to the rice when it was nearly done.  One pot and done.  Fresh supplies were low since he had not come up for a few months now.

Llandra felt it before he did.  When he did he looked at her with a shrug.  Uncle Martin had returned.

#####

He entered as he always did.  As if he owned the world, and Kyle along with it.  Martin was not fat per say, but his bulk was not all muscle.  He had the body of a middle aged man used to not doing much manual labor.

His stylish graying hair was perfect despite the winter wind.  Ice blue eyes assessed the scene before him and his arrogant demeanor hid his true thoughts.

"It would seem that you have found one from the other land.  So I can assume that you know your true heritage now?"

Kyle and Llandra exchanged looks but neither said anything.  It seemed best to keep silent for the moment. 

"Very good!"  Uncle Martin said suddenly.  "Now we can be honest and I can speak freely to you, son."

"What do ya mean?"  Kyle said with heat.  He hated when Martin called him 'son'.

"I was sworn to secrecy, by your parents I might add, to only speak of all this when you figured it out."  His hands went out in a hug like gesture, "and now you know!  It's like a weight has been lifted."

Llandra watched the two men talk and said nothing of her true thoughts.  She had been trained to stay out of Wizard affairs.  It was bothering her that this Wizard was suddenly so friendly.

Her grand-sire always said that people were like snakes, they either danced before striking or made hissing noises to warn you off.  To her Wizard Martin looked like he was dancing before a strike.

"Look, I'm not sure what your game is now."  Kyle said aloud, "She came looking for help, and I plan on helping her.  That's it, and nothing you say will change my thinking."

"I did not plan anything, Kyle.  I only wish I could have trained you earlier." Martin walked over and poured himself a glass of wine.  "For some reason your parents felt that a non-magical upbringing would make you stronger.  Instead it has made you ignorant of who you truly are."

It seemed to Llandra that this was an old argument that went on long before Kyle was grown.  This would explain the fights Kyle remembered as a child.  Maybe the older Wizard was telling the truth and was concerned for Kyle.  She just had no way of being sure.

As for Kyle, he was tired of his uncle Martin and just wished that he was not involved in his life. "What do you want?  Exactly, how can you help me, Uncle Martin?"

"That's the thing.  I can show you how to tap into and control your newfound powers.  I will go with the two of you and help train you as we go, wherever it is that the female needs you to go.  Is that acceptable?" Martin was swirling the wine to smell it as he spoke.  "I will bring this with me, hard to find good wine in our home land."

Not waiting for an answer, Martin walked away and into the living room.  This left the two alone.  Llandra shrugged at Kyle and lifted her hands in a I-don't-know look.  He did not not either but it would seem that if he wanted to understand all that was being hidden from him he would have to trust Martin, for now.

#####

They ate the simple dinner in relative silence, with Llandra asking her innocent questions from time to time.  Kyle watched how the two interacted and began to realize that on their world the fairie were put into a subspecies category by the wizard kind.  He did not like that at all.  He thought of himself as fairly tolerant and accepting.  It made sense with the way Llandra had acted about the two of them having feelings for each other.

Uncle Martin ate little and acted like a lord at a table of commoners.  He tried to play nice but Kyle knew that it was beyond his power to do so.  He did begin to talk about getting the proper supplies and cloths for the trip to the other world.  Kyle still did not think of it as his home world yet.

Martin tried to get Llandra to sleep in the spare bedroom but she quietly refused and took Kyle's hand.  A small smirk crossed the older mans face and then he shrugged and went into his room.  Kyle watched until the door was closed and pulled her into his room.  There was a big arm chair he loved to sleep in and he gave her the bed and took the chair for himself.

"I have to give water and I would like a last shower before we return in the morn, Kyle."  Llandra said and came very close to him.  He could smell her and the fragrance filled his brain.  To him she smelled of Downy and clean cloths, fresh from the dryer.

"Follow me."  was all he could get out.

Leading her to the only bathroom he showed her inside and sat outside until  she was finished.  He thought he heard Martin open his door once but it quickly closed.  Something just did not feel right and Kyle could not put his finger on it.

He did continue to study and mess with the ball of magic  within himself. What he was able to figure out was that it worked mostly by will and desire. 

He had half expected to feel something more.  Either tingles or something, but instead he felt a push or resistance only.  Like the magic was fighting him slightly.

Llandra was out of the shower and he could hear her toweling off.  His mind went wandering and he forced himself to think about something else.  He was trying to not have such thoughts about her, but it was more and more difficult.

Walking out while drying her long hair she walked right into Kyle, knocking them both over.  The two embraced because he was keeping her from falling.  So close together their lips were nearly touching.  He blinked and she felt his eyelash.

The kiss was hesitant at first.  Slow and unsure they merged together.  Soon they began to grab each other hungrily and Kyle pressed in closer.  Her wings began to flutter behind as if they wanted to fly them away.

Llandra pulled her head away and pushed Kyle in the same motion.  "I cannot do this."  She whispered breathlessly.

"Why?"  Kyle's voice was thick and heavy. 

Not answering, she went into his bedroom and closed the door behind her.  Kyle was left standing and weighing his options.  Should he respect her choice and sleep on the couch?

Or should he follow the advice of every locker room conversation and bust into the bedroom and finish what they had started?

Kyle made his choice and quietly followed her in.  He stood for just a moment and watched her lay in his bed.  Then he took the extra blanket and curled up on the arm chair.  Neither went to sleep quickly.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good read!